Geo

Bart & Joe

Casey

Sick beats, eloquent words, and witty humor comes standard with the package of this Seattle comedian-rapper. The icing on the cake is his ability to make social commentary sexy, covering every issue from the AZN Pride era of xxAZNballaxx and cutieAZNpriNc3ss screen names to the remarkable headway we’ve made into pop culture since then. Say hello to Andrew Fung, aka Inglish. Using the springboard of social media, Andrew has graced us with rhyme after badass rhyme, including Still Got Rice, the spot-on update and clever remake to the infamous Got Rice. In fact, he and his rap group Model Minority have been doing enough damage to catch the attention of the LA Times And Andrew doesn’t stop there. He and his brother David made the brave trek to the city of dreamers and doers just two weeks ago, and you can find them already killing it at open mics. Welcome to Los Angeles Andrew.

A seven hour car ride up north plus one long Bart station route brought the OA team to the Bay Area. We met up with the owner and designer of The Imaginary Zebra, Benson Chou. Benson has been pursing creative designs for over four years now, starting off with a little graffiti session (legally!) back in the day. He’s now one of those jack-of-all trades but under one umbrella type of artist. He’s a designer who uses his clothing to share his illustrations and taps into various creative mediums for inspiration. We had the pleasure of having Benson share stories of how he developed his brand and what keeps him going.

Good things actually come in large packages–all seven of them. All testosterone, all personality, all heart, and all…from Taiwan! This week, OA presents the talented gentlemen of Instant Noodles Crew. This nine-person phenomenon helped pioneer the b-boy scene at Taipei American School before each made their move to the United States separately. Somehow, they all reunited in SoCal. Destiny is the only way to explain their unrivaled team chemistry–from turning Chinese phrases into English acronyms to sharing inside jokes. There was never a dull moment with these hilarious goofballs, as we sipped on boba outside of 85 Degrees and laughed at embarrassing stories (mostly of Chris). Now digging deeper past the joking, friendly, laid back layers, we find passion, skill, discipline, and teamwork. These b-boys have soared past mere tricks, into the realm of b-boy culture, creativity, and true passion, landing them a well-deserved spot on Season 6 of ABDC. Be sure to tune in on April 7 and vote for them!

If you’ve been to the San Gabriel valley area there’s this place called Half & Half Tea House that serves amazing honey boba that melts in your mouth! During one of our boba runs, the OA team met up with Gerald Ko also know as singindork888 on Youtube. Gerald is one of those multi-talented guys who writes, sings and plays original songs. In addition to making time to collaborate with other Asian American talents like Arden Cho, Clara C and Jasmine Rafael. We broke bread (or rather bricktoast) over how at a young age music was always a constant in his life, whether it be through singing or playing instruments. Oh did we mention Gerald is also a full time pharmacist by day?

Mention “Asian American film” and chances are, we’re all thinking of THE film from the early 2000′s; the FIRST American film with an ALL ASIAN cast that successfully made it to the mainstream market. Yes, you guessed it, Better Luck Tomorrow. If you’ve never seen it, buy it immediately (Click Here)! This was the film that put Asian Americans on the map as dynamic, fascinating individuals who could do more than deliver your take out. Moreover, the cast and crew overcame tremendous challenges in a climate plagued by rigid convention and stereotypes, helping pave the road for change. Skeptics of the film’s success–$250,000 in budget–were put to shame when the dough kept on rolling in: $3,809,226 in gross revenue, $15 million in DVD sales. Today, the OA team is proud to feature Parry Shen, the lead actor from Better Luck Tomorrow, and a pioneer who has already secured his well-deserved place in history.

Parry filled us in on his upcoming projects over sandwiches and then gave us some insider tips in getting into the industry. Read on as Parry talks about his growth as an Asian American actor, the struggles he faced during the production of Better Luck Tomorrow, and his awesome, hidden talent of building things out of cardboard!

Whoever says Asians can’t drive will have to put a sock in it thanks to professional NASCAR racer Brian Wong. Get this: Brian is the first Asian American to be in this sport professionally. He has competed in various prestigious races throughout the world, including the most recent 2011 Rolex 24 at Daytona. This extremely strenuous race lasts 24 hours and is held at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. We started off our day with tacos followed by a delightful rendezvous with Brian’s father (hilarious and downright awesome), his close friends, and his marketing team. Read on as OA fills you in on how Brian broke into this unique industry as he shares the struggles and triumphs he has faced during his journey to fulfill his dreams.

What five-letter word evokes a hard-to-achieve combination of intellect, good taste, and humor? If you didn’t already know, oh, you will: Dawen is synonymous to classy—right down to the wine he was sipping on a Saturday morning. Let’s not even begin to rave about the oval-shaped burger he recommended at Father’s House in Culver City, because we’ll never stop. Join TheOtherAsians in this enriching interview with Dawen as he gives OAer Julie Zhan a taste of his signature candid, no beating-around-the-bush views on social issues, especially pertaining to Asian Americans. It certainly helps that he has a voice so smooth it even made Macy Gray melt, and combined with his soulful melodies, good luck not dropping everything you’re doing to listen to what he has to say.

The OA team recently had the pleasure of meeting with Lynn Chen for a superb dinner at the Larchmont Bungalow. You may recognize her as one of the lead actors from the award-winning romantic comedy, Saving Face. Lynn is a seasoned (yet so youthful!) player in the film industry, and she is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of Asian Americans in mainstream entertainment. Apart from all her successful ventures in the film industry, she also maintains two active blogs (see below) about very important issues: food and body image. We are honored and more than excited to share her experiences and struggles as an Asian American actress.

The OA team had the pleasure of grabbing dinner with Karen Zhou at a California Pizza Kitchen recently in Irvine. You may not have heard of Karen, but she is on her way to becoming a force to be reckoned with in the international figure skating scene. She has competed in senior level competitions all over the world while maintaining a 3.9 average GPA, as well as participating in numerous extra curricular activities. With her recent gold medal win in the senior ladies events at the 2010 U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships last August, this is slowly propelling Karen to her goal of qualifying for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. She currently trains in Artesia, California, the same training ground for Olympic Gold Medalist Yu-Na Kim (whom she mentioned she sees everyday!).

Just in case you were wondering, yes, Jason Yang is just as quirky, funny, and lovable in person as he is on YouTube. But what’s more, this virtuoso violinist has a more serious and insightful side to him. His fascinating expositions, feelings towards the electric violin, and musical inspirations came pouring out over fried scallop bowls in Little Tokyo with TheOtherAsians. So just how did OAer Julie Zhan get Jason to disclose a never-before-heard story involving acid, blindness, and a performance? Four words: Arnold Palmer. Free Refills.

What do you get when gorgeous, yet down-to-earth Olivia T suggests Sunday morning dim sum followed by tea with TheOtherAsians? That’s right, an epic, Six.Hour.Long. heart-to-heart. In this interview with OAer Julie Zhan, Olivia T—one of the original YouTubers to put herself on the map with her breath-taking voice—talks about her time away from YouTube, pursuing her passion for teaching, and becoming a full-time college student before she graduated from high school.

First, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! We wish you all happiness and prosperity! Just yesterday, TheOtherAsians had the pleasure of bonding with Ryan Feng of Quest Crew over delicious sushi and chicken wings in the heart of Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. In this interview with OAer Julie Zhan, Feng reveals Quest Crew’s brotherly dynamics, his most memorable performance, what it means to be Chinese American, and how CADC changed his life.